Cartridge Cleaning

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A

aztony

Bronze Supporter
Oct 10, 2012
209
Maricopa, Arizona
Pool Size
15000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
Spent over two hours today cleaning my filters using the hose to get all dirt, dust, and other debris out. The dust storms out here in Arizona do quite a number on the filters. They go from being white to a dark brown. I should probably clean them more ofter then twice a year and that wouldn't probably help in shortening the cleaning time and water usage. I'm the only one that uses the pool, I just didn't feel it was necessary to clean the filters more often, thinking I am wrong on that part.

Anyway, I've seen people say they take the filters to one of those DIY car washes, or put them in a large trash can with some type of cleaning solution. Just wondering what's the most popular, easy, and maybe faster way to get them clean. Besides buying new ones. :p I'm thinking of going the trash can route with maybe some bleach. Would probably still have to rinse them with the hose to get out any debris.
 
Tony,

As long as your filter pressure does not go up more than 25 to 30% over your clean pressure, then only cleaning them twice a year is fine.

That is exactly what I do... Just hose them off and stick them back in.. Takes me about two hours also. I don't soak mine in anything, and personally don't see any advantage in trying to make them white again.

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.
 
Tony, do yourself a favor and get some hairnets for your skimmer basket & suction side port vac basket. (If you have one of those)
They catch a lot of the fine dust we get in the pools around here, and keep it from hitting the filter.

Cleaning them twice a year is all I do. I use the filter flosser hose attachment tool listed below. Works awesome. :cheers:

Hairnets- https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0725HRKWK?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title

Filter flosser- https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002WKS85K?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title
 
Don’t soak them, or use chemicals to release the dust. I live in the desert also and my last filter cleaning was a 6-7 month interval, which was longer than usual but this hot summer was not a time to clean it. It absorbed globs of dirt and sand, and my driveway was a mess, but it’s much preferred to backwashing my old sand filter.
I just use a hose and get my 4 cartridges clean and back in the housing in less than an hour.

I have those skimmer ‘socks’, but they put a strain on the pump, so I only use them if it’s s bad storm and I can remove them after a few hours.
https://www.amazon.com/10-Pack-Pool-Skimmer-Socks-Skimmers/dp/B01GW1JXOY

I clean my filter about three times a year, and it’s never an issue with pressure increase being the deciding factor in me cleaning it sooner. It’s a chore, but when I feel the energy it’s not so bad to just hose them off, you don’t need to get every last piece of dirt. I also remove the bottom drain plug and get a lot of settled dirt out that way.

I have the Pentair Clean and Clear plus and I used to have the plastic Pentair gauges (with the convenient outer dial to see the pressure increase of when to schedule a cleaning) but they stunk and got killed in summer heat, and I would replace them every year. Finally got a glycerine liquid filled gauge and brass relief valve, and though it doesn’t have the convenient dial, I won’t need to replace it anymore.
 
KDpoolguy said:
Don’t soak them, or use chemicals to release the dust. I live in the desert also and my last filter cleaning was a 6-7 month interval, which was longer than usual but summer was not a time to clean it, and it absorbed globs of dirt and sand.
I just use a hose and get my 4 cartridges clean and back in the housing in less than an hour.

I have those skimmer ‘socks’, but they put a strain on the pump, so I only use them if it’s s bad storm and I can remove them after a few hours.
https://www.amazon.com/10-Pack-Pool-Skimmer-Socks-Skimmers/dp/B01GW1JXOY

I clean my filter about three times a year, and it’s never an issue with pressure. It’s a chore, but when I feel the energy it’s not so bad to just hide them off, you don’t need to get every last piece of dirt. I also remove the bottom drain plug and get a lot of settled dirt out that way.

I have the Pentair Clean and Clear plus and I used to have the plastic Pentair gauges (with the convenient outer dial to see the pressure increase of when to schedule a cleaning) but they stunk and got killed in summer heat, and I would replace them every year. Finally got a glycerine liquid filled gauge and brass relief valve, and though it doesn’t have the convenient dial, I won’t need to replace it anymore.
Click to expand...

KD, those skimmer socks you have listed are really good at trapping the super fine stuff when we have our dust storms. I only put those on right after the storm, and then switch back to the disposable ones I posted a link for in my above post. The disposable ones don’t strain the pump like the “socks” do, but still keep a lot of the dirt out of the filter. Try em. :cheers:
 
Arizonarob said:
Tony, do yourself a favor and get some hairnets for your skimmer basket & suction side port vac basket. (If you have one of those)
They catch a lot of the fine dust we get in the pools around here, and keep it from hitting the filter.

Cleaning them twice a year is all I do. I use the filter flosser hose attachment tool listed below. Works awesome. :cheers:

Hairnets- https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0725HRKWK?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title

Filter flosser- https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002WKS85K?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll give both of them a try. I've never used the socks or hairnets only because I heard they put pressure on the pump and you need to make sure to empty the baskets pretty regularly, which I do nearly every day anyway. Does that flosser really work? I use a high pressure nozzle on the hose.

- - - Updated - - -

Thanks but I don't think either of those will work with my Hayward pump. It still has the gauge, seems to work fine, not that I really ever look at it. Only problem is the plastic face cover doesn't stay on.
 
Tony, the filter flosser works great because instead of cleaning one pleat at a time, you can clean multiple. And you just back it away from the filter to get a solid stream for stubborn debris.

I only have to clean my skimmer basket every 2-3 days unless there’s a storm. No pressure on the pump at all when you use the nets vs the socks.
 
Arizonarob said:
Tony, the filter flosser works great because instead of cleaning one pleat at a time, you can clean multiple. And you just back it away from the filter to get a solid stream for stubborn debris.

I only have to clean my skimmer basket every 2-3 days unless there’s a storm. No pressure on the pump at all when you use the nets vs the socks.
Click to expand...

Okay, I got the socks today but having trouble figuring out how they go on. They're for the pump filter basket, right? The problem is if they go inside the basket. over the top, it covers the hole where the debris comes into the basket. I thought about putting it on the outside of the basket but I have the same problem unless it only goes halfway up. I know it shouldn't be that hard to figure out. Must be the heat, yeah, that's it, it's the heat. :sun::sun::sun: I do have the hairnets coming for the skimmer basket.IMG_20180905_130910.jpg

Reading through the posts I see I shouldn't be using the socks right now since all the storms have subsided. I guess I'll just wait for the hairnet to arrive. Guys talking about hairnets is not what I thought we'd be talking about. :p
 

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Yeah Tony, what Jim said.

Never put anything on the pump basket. You’ll use both the socks and the hairnets on the skimmer basket. Socks when we have a dust storm, and hairnets for everyday use.
Let me find my post regarding how they will look when installed. Brb...

- - - Updated - - -

Go here and see post #274
https://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/1615-Tips-and-Tricks/page14
 
Thanks, checked out the photo. I'm guessing the handle across the top of the basket can be removed to get the hairnet inside. Does the sock go on the same way?
 
aztony said:
Thanks, checked out the photo. I'm guessing the handle across the top of the basket can be removed to get the hairnet inside. Does the sock go on the same way?
Click to expand...

Yes & Yes. Just hold the handle while you gently pull the side of the basket where it appears to be attached. There are usually small pins on each end of the handle that get inserted into small holes in the basket.
 
Tony,

I have a duplicate set of baskets... This way, I can just go out to the skimmers with the hairnets already installed and remove the dirty basket and stick in the new one. Then I can take my time to remove the rod out of the dirty basket, install the hair net, and reinstall the rod, so that it is ready for the next time.

Thanks,

Jim R.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh.. The hairnets tend to float, if you are running at a low RPM, so I have to add a rock in bottom of the basket to hold the net down.
 
aztony said:
Thanks, checked out the photo. I'm guessing the handle across the top of the basket can be removed to get the hairnet inside. Does the sock go on the same way?
Click to expand...

Yeah Tony, both the hairnet and the sock get installed the same way. Not sure what type of skimmer basket you have, but the bar on the Hayward basket just pops off.
As Jim mentioned, and you see in my picture, grab a second basket, that way you just pull the old one out, switch the rock over to the clean one, and plop it back in.

The hairnets work awsome. As you can see in that picture, it traps a lot of the surface dust that we get here, and keeps it out of your filter. The socks you use when we have those dust storms, and you’ll have to change them out frequently as they grab the really fine stuff and tend to clog up quickly. :cheers:
 
Thanks for the replies. I have the same basket that's in your photo. I will look into getting a second basket.

On another issue that has recently popped up this week. I have found the vacuum that runs around the pool, on it's side the last 4 days. The pump runs overnight so I'm not sure when exactly it turns onto it's side. I have recently, about a month ago, replaced the feet, wings, the front and back flaps. It's been working fine before this week. I lowered the amount of pressure on the vacuum to see if that would help but it hasn't. Any idea on what's causing this? The pump runs on high the last couple of hours, I'm thinking that's causing it. I'll try and lower the pressure again. Right now it's set at about the 8 o'clock mark. IMG_20180908_113423.jpg
 
Jimrahbe said:
Tony,

As long as your filter pressure does not go up more than 25 to 30% over your clean pressure, then only cleaning them twice a year is fine.

That is exactly what I do... Just hose them off and stick them back in.. Takes me about two hours also. I don't soak mine in anything, and personally don't see any advantage in trying to make them white again.

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.
Click to expand...

I only soak when I’m having serious metal issues or cal clogs & logistically its a PITA.

I’ve tried every gadget out there, the old school brass nozzle and patience win every time.
 
aztony said:
Spent over two hours today cleaning my filters using the hose to get all dirt, dust, and other debris out. The dust storms out here in Arizona do quite a number on the filters. They go from being white to a dark brown. I should probably clean them more ofter then twice a year and that wouldn't probably help in shortening the cleaning time and water usage. I'm the only one that uses the pool, I just didn't feel it was necessary to clean the filters more often, thinking I am wrong on that part.

Anyway, I've seen people say they take the filters to one of those DIY car washes, or put them in a large trash can with some type of cleaning solution. Just wondering what's the most popular, easy, and maybe faster way to get them clean. Besides buying new ones. :p I'm thinking of going the trash can route with maybe some bleach. Would probably still have to rinse them with the hose to get out any debris.
Click to expand...

I have heard that misting the filters with Simple Green for 10-15 min can loosen up a lot of the gunk. Good idea or not?
 
KurtinTUS said:
I have heard that misting the filters with Simple Green for 10-15 min can loosen up a lot of the gunk. Good idea or not?
Click to expand...

Kurt and others...once a white filter goes into a filter, it will never be the exact same again.

If you have no oils, metals or other [mainly organic pollen and other organic vegetation], you really do not need nothing. If your kids your lots of oils, or the like, then something like simple green, TSP, TSP & Bleach combo, sprayed on w a pump sprayer 1-4, then go back and clean 1-4, and you should be good to go...
 

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